Judge Judith C. McCarthy

Letters may not exceed 5 pages, exclusive of exhibits, unless prior permission is received from the Court.

Memoranda filed by a party not represented by an attorney and prepared by a computer, or filed by an attorney: Briefs in support of and in response to a motion (except for a motion for reconsideration) may not exceed 8,750 words, and reply briefs may not exceed 3,500 words. Memoranda of 3,500 words or more shall contain a table of contents. Any such brief must include a certificate by the attorney, or party who is not represented by an attorney, that the document complies with the word‐count limitations. The person preparing the certificate may rely on the word count of the word‐processing program used to prepare the document. The certificate must state the number of words in the document. To the extent the court permits a party to submit briefs longer than these limits, and expresses those limits in pages, each additional page must not contain more than 350 additional words.

To the extent the court permits a party to submit briefs longer than these limits, and expresses those limits in pages, each additional page must not contain more than 350 additional words.

Memoranda filed by a party not represented by an attorney and handwritten or prepared with a typewriter: Briefs in support of and in response to a motion (except for a motion for reconsideration) may not exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs may not exceed 10 pages.

Note that these limits do not include the caption, any index, table of contents, table of authorities, signature blocks, or any required certificates, but do include material contained in footnotes or endnotes.

Requests for admission must be served on or before , and in any event no later than 30 days before the fact discovery deadline.

All fact discovery must be completed by .

Last date to amend any pleading pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) is . Amendment of pleadings after this date will be permitted only on a showing of 'good cause' under Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4).

Depositions shall be completed by and limited to no more than depositions per party.

Supplementations under Rule 26(e) must be made within a reasonable period of time after discovery of such information, and in any event, no later than the fact discovery deadline.

Expert discovery shall be completed by .

Initial requests for production were/will be exchanged on and responses shall be due on . All subsequent requests for production must be served no later than 30 days before the fact discovery deadline.

Initial sets of interrogatories shall be served on or before . All subsequent interrogatories must be served no later than 30 days before the fact discovery deadline.

The typeface, margins, and spacing of all motion papers presented for filing must meet the following requirements: (1) all text must be 12-point type or larger, except for text in footnotes which may be 10-point type; (2) all documents must have at least one-inch margins on all sides; and (3) all text must be double-spaced, except for headings, text in footnotes, or block quotations, which may be single-spaced.

Responsive letters must identify by docket entry number which letter is being responded to.

conference, each party must provide each other party, and the Court, with a tabbed binder or binders containing copies of its trial exhibits and deposition designations.

Memoranda of 3,500 words or more shall contain a table of contents.

Any such brief must include a certificate by the attorney, or party who is not represented by an attorney, that the document complies with the word‐count limitations. The person preparing the certificate may rely on the word count of the word‐processing program used to prepare the document. The certificate must state the number of words in the document.

Joint Pretrial Orders shall include the information required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) and the following: i. The full caption of the action; ii. The names (including firm names), addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers (including cellular, if available) for each member of the trial team, and identification of each party's lead trial counsel; iii. A brief statement by plaintiff as to the bases of subject matter jurisdiction, and a brief statement by each other party as to the presence or absence of subject matter jurisdiction. Such statements shall include citations to all statutes relied on and relevant facts as to citizenship and jurisdictional amount; iv. A brief summary by each party as to whether the case is to be tried with or without a jury, and the number of trial days needed. If there is to be a jury trial, a statement as to whether the parties consent to less than a unanimous verdict pursuant to Rule 48 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is required; v. A statement of damages claimed, itemizing each component or element of the damages sought with respect to each claim, including the manner and method used to calculate the claimed damages; vi. A joint statement summarizing the nature of the case, to be read to potential jurors during jury selection;

Counsel are directed to the Model Confidentiality Stipulation and Proposed Protective Order and Stipulation and [Proposed] Order Concerning the Protocol for Conducting Remote Depositions on Judge Cave’s Individual Practices Page.

Document Requests. Counsel shall be fully familiar with their obligations under Rules 34 and 26(g) and consider and discuss ways to ensure compliance and minimize disputes regarding overbreadth and specificity of requests and responses.

Counsel are expected to have reviewed Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 26(b)(1), and 26(f)(3) and considered their obligations thereunder in discussing and preparing a discovery plan.

As of December 1, 2025, counsel are deemed to be aware of the amendment to Rule 26(f)(3)(D) regarding the timing and method for assertion of claims of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation materials.

Additional consideration of proportionality. Counsel shall discuss and consider whether phased or iterative discovery will increase efficiency, reduce costs and lead to a faster resolution of the case when preparing a discovery plan.

Competence. Counsel shall be sufficiently knowledgeable in matters relating to their discovery, or have involved someone competent to address these issues on their behalf.

Counsel represent by their signature below that they have read and will comply with the above.

No later than one week after the close of fact discovery, that is, by ____, the parties must file a joint letter on the docket certifying that fact is discovery is complete.

No later than one week after the close of expert discovery, that is, by____, the parties must file a joint letter on the docket certifying that all discovery is complete. This letter should also state which dispositive motions, if any, each party intends to file.